Debate
Massimo Cacciari, Roberto Esposito
Latest Masters

Friday, September 18, 2026
7:30 PM
Modena, Piazza Grande - World Heritage Site

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What are the prospects and legacies for philosophy, especially Italian philosophy? Recalling the figures of recently deceased masters—such as Gennaro Sasso, Biagio De Giovanni, and Natalino Irti—we will discuss the role of philosophy as knowledge that allows us to orient ourselves in the contemporary landscape.

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Massimo Cacciari
Massimo Cacciari is Professor Emeritus of Philosophy at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, where he founded the Department of Philosophy after serving as Full Professor of Aesthetics at the University of Architecture in Venice. He is a member of the Festivalfilosofia Scientific Committee. A core aspect of his philosophical reflection has always been a careful and original exploration of the tensions that permeate Western thought, particularly where crisis and conflict demonstrate how human experience is also constituted in the ongoing confrontation with that which resists any claim to absolute order. His most recent books include Concrete Metaphysics (Milan, 2023) and Kaos (with Roberto Esposito, Bologna, 2026).

Roberto Esposito
Roberto Esposito is Professor Emeritus of Theoretical Philosophy at the Scuola Normale Superiore in Pisa, after serving as Director of the Department of Philosophy and Politics at the Istituto Università Orientale in Naples; he founded the journal "Filosofia politica." The core of his reflection is dedicated to understanding the relationships between life, community, and political order, demonstrating how the processes that underpin collective coexistence are traversed by profound tensions, in which protection and conflict remain intrinsically intertwined. His most recent books include Fascism and Us. A Philosophical Interpretation (Turin, 2025) and Kaos (with Massimo Cacciari, Bologna, 2026).

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